X x x x x



UNITED STATES'FPATENT OFFICE,

DANIEL. M. LAMB, OF-LNEW'YIVORK, Y;

WATEIRFROOFING' COMPOUND.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 224,29t5, dated February 10,1880.

' ApplicationfiledJune 11,1319.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, DANIEL MAR IN LAMB, of the city, county, and State of New York, have made a new and useful Improvement in a Compound for Treating Goods to render them-Water-Proof; and I hereby declarethesubjoined specification to be a full and clear I description thereof.

zip

The object of 'this Invention is to provide a compound orsubstauce for treating textile fabrics of any kind, such as silks, linens, cottons, woolens, &c., or furs,-ski us, paper, wood,

stone, metal, leather, &c.-,o'r, in fact. goods of any description that niay be .found desirahle, so that the said material shall be adapted to enter into =allthefibersor poresof the article treated and render each fiber essentially water-proof, or capable of repelling or shed-- ding off water thrown upon or placed in contact withfit; and the materials usedfor this purpose areito be so compounded and manipulated that the goods, when treated therewith, shall retain all their ordinary beautyand style of finish, remain as entirely pliable and soft ,as in the natural state, he as perfectly inodorous as before the treatment, and that the deli-f cacy of, shade or color possessed by the goods will notin the slightest degree,beinjured'or 'ehangedby colors will becouiefinore-tixed &c.; but I take only such hydrocarbons as are of 70 gravity or over, using for-this mixture, say, from one-quarter of an ounce to two ounces or more, practically, for ordinary cases, about one ounce of the parafiine to one gallon of the solvent. The proportions in which these ingredients are mixed will vary, of course, with the kind and quality of the goods to which the mixture is to be applied and the' purposes for which the goods are to be employed The mixture may be made in any suitable quantities, and will preferably be compoundallj " ed in such a vessel as is usually employed as and called an agitator in coal-oil-refining' operations.

To facilitate the solution of the paratfine it should 'be'cut up into small pieces before it is submerged in the solvent, and the mixture should be allowed to stand until the paraffine ed to the mixture about four pounds (more or less) of chloride of sodium or common-salt to is- -full y dissolved, and then there are to be addeach flirty gallons of the 'mixture, and then about four pounds (more or less) of sulphuric acid to the said mixture. The mixture thus compounded should be allowed to stand undisturbed in the agitator for about twenty-four hours, during'which time the chloride of so dium, being distributed over the bottomot the vesselor agitator, will be attacked by the sulphuric'acid, and the resultant gas thus formed at the bottom of thevessel will rise and permeate through the compound under treat- "ment. By this part of the process the-mucilaginous and sedimentary portions of the compoundare precipitated, and the igniting-point is raised as well as itslspeciticgravity considerablyincreascd'. I

' fter vthe mixture shall havestood undistturbed in the mixing-vessel for twenty-four hours, or thereabout, it \vilLhe agitated by an injected current tar-currents of air driven into the compound by some suitable air compressor or blower, the discharging end or ends of the.

'airpipe or pipes being submerged in theliquid,

so afs'toallowthe-air to permeate the whole 'mass under" treatment. After the hydrochlotic-acid treatment. (as I designate the foregoing gaseous treatment) of the compound shall have been completed the sediment will be drawn off or removed from the agitator, and the remainder will be thoroughly washed with clean water, using for this purpose, say, from tire to ten gallons of water to one barrel of the compound. The agitation or blowing of air through the mixture will be continued until substantially all of the gas shall have been driven out of the mass. The washing is accompanied with a small admixture of caustic soda or ammonia, or both, so as to absorb or neutralize any unpleasant odors, as well as to wash out of the mixture any foreign substance or remaining portion of the gas.

g kind, and quality of the goods or delicate goods, kid gloves, &c.,' a

The agitation, of the mixture will, in most cases, require from one to four hours, and after it shall have been com leted the mixture will be allowed to stand qt! 1;. long enough (about 5 one hour, moreor less) for the water, acid, and sediment to settle to the bottom of the vessel,- when the watesproofiiig compound will be completed and stand iu-i-the part of the vessel, which should the'n'be tigtl closed, or

as to prevent evaporatiom and it will then be ready for use for the purpose for-which it is intended. I f

The foregoing treatment of the dissolved parafline while it is held in solution by means of the abovedescribed gas will be such as to change the mass so that it will not decompose, as would-'a mere mechanical mixture, at 32 ,Fahrenheit, and will not do so at 0 Fahren- 2o heit, or even below that point, the precise degree being-as yet undetermined. Neither is the precisechemical form of the compound yet dc termiued with accuracy; but it is perfectly,or nearly perfectly, colorless, and is odorless, the bleaching" elfect produced by the hydrochloricacid gas being of the most perfect character, and henceI term this the hydrochloric-acid treatment. a g

A process similar in part has heretofore been applied by me, to the treatment of crude oils, said process being described in a patent granted me in 1876, No 183 4.01 in which such oils are described as treated with gas and agitation with air.

The process by which goods are to be treat ed with this compound is as follows: A suitable bath or shallow vessel with a removable self-sealing cover is to be provided, which is to be filled, or partly filled, with the, waterproofing liquid prepared astabove described. The goods to be treated are then to be immersed in this bath for a suflicient length of time tothoroughly saturate them and for this purpose the time will vary with. the thickness,

'under treatment. Thus, for fine, thin, such as thin silks,laces,

the mixmrsala'wn Ofitifo a'clo'" "meats;

halt honr would, in most cases, be snthcient, while for thick fabrics, cloths, leather, 8m, one hour may be required; and for furs, woods, stone, would be required, varying with the material under treatment, but which expert operators would soon determine for themselves.

After the bath shall have been completed the goodsare to be taken out of it and all ad lieriilginoistur shaken or brushed oil, and then hung up to dry in' a closed apartment or dryingroom and dried by steam-heat, keeping the temperature of thedrying-room' at, say, from 85 to 100 Fahrenheit.

drying the goods may be placed away ages suitable for delivery.

Goods treated in this way will retain: their water proof or water-repelling qualities for an indefinite period-of time, which will only terminate with the destruction or wearing out of the goods, and the durability of the goods so in packtreated will be greatly increased and the colors maintained, as there can be no fadin'g or incipient decay as long as moisture-ls excluded; Goods treated in this manner can- 'notmildew, and kid gloves thus prepared may be kept in stock indefinitely withoutinury. Having described my intention, I claim- 1. Thefimproved process forpreparing a waterproofing compound for textile fabrics, dress-goods, and the like, dissolving-refined parafline in naphtha, benzine, benzole, gasoline, or other similar hydr'ocarbons, and then treating the-solution with gas from a mixture of chloride of sodium and sulphuric acid, as set forth. -2. Theimproved waterproofing compound,

5 metal, or other articles, a longer time After the consisting in lirst consistingot' refined paraflinedissolved in a light hydromrbo'n and treated with gas formed by the action of sulphuric acid or chloride of sodium, substantiallyas described.

i DANIEL M. LAMB. Witnesses:

M. RANDOLPH, R. Gr. RANDOLPH. 

